John Stockton inducted into the NCAA Hall of Fame

After a long and fairly disappointing road trip, the Utah Jazz are back in action tomorrow night against the Chicago Bulls. To keep you in the Jazz mood for today, here’s your Tuesday Downbeat!

The greatest point guard to ever pick up a basketball was inducted to yet another Hall of Fame this week.

“I was surprised to be included, frankly,” Stockton said of his selection in an article published in The Spokesman-Review last week.

“I never looked at my college career in those terms … My pro career, I think, is what brought attention to my college career,” he said.

Stockton finished with 1,340 points and 554 assists in his four seasons at Gonzaga. He was the first Gonzaga player named WCC player of the year.

He went on to win two Olympic gold medals and set numerous records in the NBA and remains the career steals and assists leader. For those accomplishments he was twice inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame – as a player and as a member of the 1992 U.S. Olympic basketball team – and as of Sunday he is also a member of the College Basketball Hall of Fame.

Any day I get to write about my favorite player of all time is a great day. I would do just about anything to watch him lace up with Karl Malone and dominate the NBA again. Thanks for the memories Stock and congrats on another accolade on your already-full resume.

Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders did a couple good interviews with Derrick Favors and Donovan Mitchell recently that are worth a watch.

It’s that time to spotlight how awesome you all are!

KelenMore starts us off with a State of Utah Address:

There was a wide range of outcomes for the Jazz this year. The start of the season looked like it was the best timeline. We thought Rubio's jumper wasn't just a mirage at the end of last year. Ball movement, good-enough shooting, and defense were gonna propel us comfortably into the playoffs. Right now, it looks like the darkest timeline: Rubio can't shoot, defenses respect NOBODY on the roster, injuries are piling up, fans are firing up the trade machine, and writers are now asking if we might tank. Maybe there's another twist coming and we'll turn it around, but right now, winter is coming.

WasatchBlues thinks the Bucks could make a move and proposes a trade:

I'm curious what you think of this trade.

Jazz receive: Jabari Parker, Mirza Teletovic

Bucks receive: Derrick Favors, Rodney Hood

You know what to do. Click through and share your thoughts!

Since Nike took over the NBA jerseys, it was announced that each team would have 4 jerseys. So far we have only seen our typical home and away uniforms. But on Saturday we’ll finally get to experience the new Jazz gold.

What was everyone’s feelings on these?

I know this is a Jazz blog, but let me vent for a second. My least favorite thing about the current NBA is that the season is pretty much a foregone conclusion before it even begins. Being a fan of a small market team makes this even worse, as the lack of parity hits them even harder. It’s just frustrating at times and I wish the league would do something about it.

I was wondering the other day just how far apart the top is from the bottom. That got me thinking: How many teams would you have to combine before they’d start competing for a title? The generally accepted bottom 5 teams this year are the Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, Dallas Mavericks, Sacramento Kings, and Brooklyn Nets. I’m not thoroughly convinced that combing 5 NBA rosters would even result in a playoff team. That’s a problem in my opinion.

Oh well, despite the struggles that we as a fanbase face, it will be all the sweeter when we finally get to see a (real) banner put up in Salt Lake.